Land Rover and Toyota earned top brand honors for vehicles predicted to hold their value over the next three years, in the ALG Residual Value Awards released today.
Land Rover was tops among premium brands and Toyota led mainstream brands.
The 15th annual Residual Value Awards recognize vehicles that are predicted by ALG forecasters to retain the highest percentage of their sticker price after three years.
This year’s ranking of 2015 model-year vehicles for the first time includes midsize and full-size commercial vans as part of 26 segments covered by the awards. ALG chose the recipients based on the vehicles’ strong value within their segments, the company said in a statement.
Automakers will receive the awards at the Los Angeles Auto Show this week.
Last year, Mercedes was named the top premium brand, while Honda was the top mainstream brand. ‘Future value’
“Residual value is important for automakers and consumers because it’s a complete indicator of the vehicle’s future value, accounting for quality, durability and brand desirability among other factors,” Larry Dominique, president of ALG and executive vice president of sister company TrueCar, said in the statement.
Forecasts of residual values also are important because they are the basis for many lease programs. Financing companies that write leases use those forecasts to determine how much of a vehicle’s value has to be paid for over the month of a lease.
Land Rover earned its first-ever win among premium manufacturers because of “having consistently delivered a stream of hot, new vehicles for which customer demand far outweighs supply,” the statement said.
Models such as the Range Rover Sport have been on the dealer lot for only an average of 13 days, vs. the industry average of 65 days, Dominique said.
Prius vs. Prius
Toyota took five segment awards among mainstream brands, knocking Honda from its two-year streak of top mainstream pick. The Toyota Prius v wagon beat last year’s winner, the Prius c subcompact car, in ALG’s alternative-fuel category.
ALG named the Toyota Tacoma pickup truck an RVA winner for the 14th consecutive year. The Toyota Tundra won its fourth consecutive award, and the Lexus IS, Lexus GX and Toyota Land Cruiser also received honors.
“Even in a robust automotive industry, where competition is fierce, we’ve seen automakers keep incentive spending down, which helps maintain high residual values,” Dominique said in the statement. “That benefits
consumers and businesses, helping their vehicles retain strong values and leading to lower overall costs of ownership.”
First-time winners include the Dodge Charger, Subaru WRX, Toyota Prius v, Chevrolet Tahoe, Ford Transit Connect, Hyundai Genesis, Audi TT and Porsche Macan.
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